The Mandelbrot set is generated by iteration. Iteration means to
repeat a process over and over again. In mathematics this process is
most often the application of a mathematical function. For the
Mandelbrot set, the function involved is the simplest nonlinear
function imaginable, namely x2 + c, where c is a constant. As we
go along, we will specify exactly what value c takes.

To iterate x2 + c, we begin with a seed for the iteration.
This
is a (real or complex) number which we denote by x0.
Applying the function x2 + c to x0 yields the new number

x1 = (x0)2 + c

Now, we iterate, using the result of the previous computation as the
input for the next. That is

x2 = (x1)2 + c

x3 = (x2)2 + c

x4 = (x3)2 + c

x5 = (x4)2 + c

and so forth. The list of numbers x0, x1, x2,... generated
by this iteration has a name: It is called
the orbit of x0 under
iteration of x2 + c. One of the principal questions in this area of
mathematics is: What is the fate of typical orbits? Do they converge
or diverge? Do they cycle or behave erratically?
In a real sense, the
Mandelbrot set is a geometric version of the answer to this question.

Let's begin with a few examples. Suppose we start with
the constant c = 1.
Then, if we choose the seed 0, the orbit is

x0 = 0

x1 = 1 = 02 + 1

x2 = 2

x3 = 5

x4 = 26

x5 = BIG

x6 = BIGGER

and we see that this orbit tends to infinity.

As another example, for c = 0, the orbit of the seed 0 is quite
different: this orbit remains fixed for all iterations.

x0 = 0

x1 = 0

x2 = 0

If we now choose c = -1, something else happens. For the seed 0, the
orbit is

x0 = 0

x1 = -1

x2 = 0

x3 = -1

Here we see that the orbit bounces back and forth between 0 and -1,
a cycle of period 2.

To understand the fate of orbits, it is most often easiest to proceed
geometrically. Accordingly, a time series plot of the orbit often
gives more information about the fate of the orbits. In the plots
below, we have displayed the time series for x2 + c where
c = -1.1, -1.3, -1.38, and 1.9.
In each case we have computed the orbit
of 0. Note that the fate of the
orbit changes with c. For c = -1.1, we see that the orbit
approaches a 2-cycle. For c = -1.3, the orbit tends to a 4-cycle. For
c = -1.38, we see an 8-cycle. And when c = -1.9,
there is no apparent
pattern for the orbit; mathematicians use the word chaos for
this phenomenon. To see this in another light, we have plotted a
histogram of the first 20,000 points on the orbit of 0 under
x2 - 1.9 in Figure 2. In this picture we have subdivided the interval
[-2, 2] into 400 subintervals. The histogram was
incremented by one unit each time the orbit entered one of these
subintevals.

Figure 1. Time series for

Figure 2. Histogram of the orbit of 0 under

To see additional time series plots for other values of c, select a
c value from the options below:

Before proceeding, let us make a seemingly obvious and uninspiring
observation. Under iteration of x2 + c ,
either the orbit of 0 goes to
infinity, or it does not. When the orbit does not go to infinity, it
may behave in a variety of ways. It may be fixed or cyclic or behave
chaotically, but the fundamental observation is that there is a
dichotomy: sometimes the orbit goes to infinity, other times, it does
not. The Mandelbrot
set is a picture of precisely this dichotomy in the special case where
0 is used as the seed. Thus the Mandelbrot set is a record of the fate
of the orbit of 0 under iteration of x2 + c.

How then is the
Mandelbrot set a planar picture? The answer is, instead of considering
real values of c, we also allow c to be a complex number.
For example, the orbit of 0 under x2 + i is given by

x0 = 0

x1 = i

x2 = -1 + i

x3 = -i

x4 = -1 + i

x5 = -i

x6 = -1 + i

and we see that this orbit eventually cycles with period 2. If we
change c to 2i, then the orbit behaves very differently

x0 = 0

x1 = 2i

x2 = -4 + 2i

x3 = 12 - 14i

x4 = -52 - 334i

x5 = BIG (meaning far from the origin)

x6 = BIGGER

and we see that this orbit tends to infinity in the complex plane (the
numbers comprising the orbit recede further and further from the
origin). Again we make the fundamental observation either the orbit of
0 under x2 + c tends to infinity, or it does not.